Love Sick Stomach Ache
by thewhitebloodrose
Summary: **SUMMARY: Luce goes to greet the other arcobaleno one morning, only to find that Reborn's not there. When she goes searching, she finds a fever induced hit man with a vicious stomach virus. Can Luce nurse the strongest hit man in the world back to health without letting her feelings take over? Emotions are spun and Feelings are revealed. One-shot FEVER-FIC!**


**SUMMARY: Luche goes to greet the other arcobaleno one morning, only to find that Reborn's not there. When she goes searching, she finds a fever induced hit man with a vicious stomach virus. Can Luche nurse the strongest hit man in the world back to health without letting her feelings take over? Emotions are spun and Feelings are revealed. One-shot FEVER-FIC!**

*Warning slight cursing and vomit scenes included.*

•Romance

•Luche/Adult Reborn

+NOTE:THIS STORY SHIFTS FROM THREE DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES FROM TIME TO TIME WHICH IS LUCE'S PERSPECTIVE, REBORN'S PERSPECTIVE, AND A THIRD PERSON POINT OF VIEW. IT CAN BE LUCE ONE MOMENT AND AUTOMATICALLY CHANGE TO REBORN'S PERSPECTIVE AND SHIFT INTO THIRD PERSON. HOWEVER, THEIR PERSPECTIVES MAY SOUND LIKE THIRD PERSON POINT OF VIEW. IF THIS GET'S CONFUSING, LEAVE ME A REVIEW AND I'LL HELP YOU BEST WAY I COULD. DIALOGUES STARTS OFF CERTAIN PARAGRAPHS AND THOUGHTS ARE ITALIC AND BOLD WITH ONLY ONE QUOTATION MARK AT THE BEGINNING AND END OF THE THOUGHT.+

* * *

"Good Morning Everyone!"

"Good Morning Boss!"

Luce had just entered the main room from the kitchen with a batch of cookies like she did every morning. She noticed all of the guardians doing their own little thing. Some was counting money, others having conversations about random things. However, there were only 6 guardians in total that morning.

"Does anyone know where Reborn is," questioned Luce trying to hide her sudden feelings of concern.

"I'm not sure! He never came down, maybe he's still asleep," answered Fon. No that couldn't be, it was Reborn, the only time he never came downstairs was because of something serious. The last time he came downstairs late, he was recovering from a battle that left him exhausted and somewhat injured (only cuts and bruises, calm down). Now showing her worried feelings, Luce went up to Reborn's room to check on the paranoid hit man (as she would sometimes call him).

She knocked twice on Reborn's door but didn't get a reply...or so she thought. Listening closely she heard tiny groans and grunts of what sounded like pain and exhaustion. Almost wanting to flung the door open to check whatever could be doing this to her fellow hit man guardian, she found her nerves and quietly opened the door(just in case he was only sleeping and was having a dream). As she quietly walked into Reborn's room, she noticed that the room was very dimly lit and that there was basically nothing or any one in his room. She saw a chair, a dresser with a mirror, his bed, and his nightstand on the left of his bed which led towards the door that had his treasured fedora laying on top of it.

"There's nothing here," Luce whispered, "so where did all those groans come from?" Looking around again, she noticed a fairly thin lump slightly move on the bed. It was Reborn sleeping.

_**'Oh thank goodness! I thought something bad happened. Poor thing must just be tired, I'll leave him to his beauty sleep,'**_ Luce thought in relief to herself. Just as she was turning to leave the hit man's room, she heard a few more groans and moans of pain come from Reborn. Getting worried again, she tip-toed her way back towards Reborn to see if he was actually alright. However, getting closer to Reborn, all she saw was a white lump (his covers are white). He was hiding under his covers, somewhat shivering. He was cuddling within himself as if to find warmth.

"Reborn? I need you to wake up, let me see what's wrong with you," Luce gently commanded. This didn't work because Reborn was, in some weird way, in deep sleep. Luce soothingly rubbed Reborn's back and got him to loosen up, but he never removed the covers from his head and body. Being careful, she removed the covers from Reborn's face. His hair that usually stood up was now downward and sticking to his sweat covered face. He was also sweating everywhere else and was even shivering as if there was no tomorrow. Using her hand, she made contact with the ill-looking guardian. Feeling the sudden change in temperature made Reborn flinch away from Luce's gentle touch.

"Oh dear! Reborn you're sick! You have a fever! I need you to wake up!" With a gentle firmness, she shook the young male awake. Slowly and painfully, he awoke. At first he met the sun's powerful rays which agitated his sudden throbbing headache which also made him flinch in pain. He seemed ready to pass out until he heard a gentle voice reach out to him.

"Reborn, this way, it's me, Luce." He aimlessly and slowly moved his head towards the sound of the angelic voice trying to fight his feeling of dizziness and nausea. Finally finding the source of the voice, he looked up and found Luce with a concerned look on his face (obviously he didn't hear exactly what she said).

"L-L-Luce," he groggily questioned, and then a coughing fit erupted because of his sore and dry throat and mouth.

"What are you doing here? What time is it?" Quickly moving his head away from Luce to look at his room's clock, he just as quickly turned it back, or at least attempted to, because the room suddenly started spinning out of control. A small groan escaped his lips and he shot up into the seated position. Luce looked scared as he tightly held onto his stomach with one hand and used his other hand to cover his mouth as he started to retch. She then immediately started to look for a bucket for Reborn. Looking immediately beside her, she conveniently found one right by his bed side. Odd part about it was that it already had vomit in it. Placing the bucket so that it was on Reborn's bed right near him she thought, _**'Did he get sick last night and not tell anyone?'**_ Finally unable to contain what his stomach was trying to throw back out, his head dropped into the bucket as he started to violently puke out his unknown stomach components. He retched and puked for a good 5 minutes before his stomach deemed it enough of what it felt he didn't need anymore. Shaking and exhausted, Reborn slowly plopped back onto his bed and turned on his side so that he was away from Luce and was facing the nightstand and door. Quickly as she could, she grabbed the chair that was in Reborn's room corner and placed it on the new side that Reborn had turned to. Using one hand to stroke his side, she used the other hand to open the last drawer in his nightstand. It contained a first aid kit and other medical necessities (thermometer, wash cloth, bandages, cream, and ECT.). She was actually very pleased that his plan wasn't a total waste of money. One random day, Verde had suggested that everyone get a first aid kit and have it placed in their rooms in case of emergencies. Some stayed quiet while OTHERS complained that it would be a waste of money. Luce, however, thought that it was an excellent idea. She thought that everyone always ran to Verde when they had a medical problem so having a first aid kit in their rooms would definitely benefit. Thankfully she had made a good choice on that day cause now she didn't have to keep constantly running to get random things for Reborn (in case you're wondering, the bucket was also part of the other medical necessities.)

"Reborn, I'm going to go get a bowl of water, please try to calmly wait until I return," stated Luce finally breaking the silence other than Reborn's sickly and ragged breathing. She waited until she got a slow head nod from the sick male. Somewhat pleased, she scurried out of the room and went to the nearest bathroom to go get the bowl of water. When she returned, she found him uncomfortably sleeping. He was tossing, turning, and moaning cause of the great pain his stomach was in. It felt as if it was melting through his body. He felt it twist and churn and felt it rumble and growl fiercely in pain and hunger. But what could he do? He would just puke whatever he ate. She quickly rushed to his side and laid him on his back. All she heard was him silently whimper while his stomach made violent, bubbling growls and rumbles. His face was twisted so that it showed nothing but pain, his hand squeezing the ever living out of his stomach, more sweat had produced in the short time that she was gone, and she didn't even need to touch his forehead to tell that his temperature had drastically increased. Wetting and placing the cloth on his head, she took out a handkerchief, dabbed it in water and wiped away the now puke on his mouth. She woke him again and took out his thermometer to check his temperature (which she surprisingly has yet to do). When the thermometer finally beeped, she removed it and gave Reborn a glass of ice cold water. When she checked the thermometer, it had read that Reborn's temperature was 103*.

"Reborn! You're burning up! You poor soul! I think you need a cold shower rather than an itsy-bitsy wash cloth," Luce semi-screamed. Reborn groaned at the thought of having to get up. His stomach muscles were in deadly pain and all he could do was fight the urge to either scream, punch his gut, or to cut/shoot his stomach out of him. He didn't care what needed to happen, he just wanted the pain to stop so he can get a chance to sleep. Noticing that he was making no effort to move, she decided to sweet talk him to get him to move.

"Reborn, I know you're in pain, but I really need you to get up. I know you can do it. You are the strongest hit man and the strongest guardian. Please Reborn, you really need to do this, if you don't, I'm not exactly sure what I can do," pleaded Luce. Her eyes started to tear up. All of a sudden, a pair of shaking hands made contact with her face and the hands' thumbs started to wipe away the sudden tears that were streaming down her face. It was Reborn. He started to wake up the moment he heard a voice and just heard when she said, "If you don't, I'm not exactly sure what I can do." Even though Reborn's face had a gentle smile (yes he smiled and weird that he could with all the pain he's in), he was just as shocked as Luce when he did the sudden action. However, it just felt so natural to do, but he didn't understand why it had felt so natural.

"Reborn?"

"Ok, I'll get up, but first I want to take care of my stomach. It feels as if I would be able to move until it calms down a little." Now wiping away her tears of happiness, she started to rub the young male's aching stomach. She felt a massive amount of heat flowing from his stomach. She felt the pain he was experiencing. She felt the twisting and churning and when she felt the growls and rumbles erupt from him, she couldn't help but feel that rubbing his stomach was not as bad as she first thought. However, Reborn just laid there, not a single sign of change coming from him. With that she removed the covers so that it only covered a little above his hip and down. Again she attempted to calm the sore guardian's stomach. This time however, he started to relax. It got to the point where he started to happily moan. Then out of nowhere he abruptly removed her hand and started to unbutton his shirt from the bottom up. The only thing his yellow pajama shirt covered was his chest. He put her hand back on his muscular stomach. The warmth that was emanating from her hand was enough to get his stomach relaxing.

"I'm sorry Luce. It seems I disobeyed a direct order from you," Reborn jokingly said.

"And exactly what order would that be?"

"You told me to wait here calmly until you returned and I was over here tossing and turning like an upside beetle," he informed through a slight chuckle. _**'I never knew he was so playful? Maybe it's only when he's sick or alone with me?'**_ she suddenly thought.

A playful and gentle smile appeared on Luce's face as she slowly started to rub Reborn's bare stomach again. Reborn felt every single pain in the world melt away as her warm hand gently rubbed back and forth on his now calm stomach. He didn't want her to stop, he didn't want this moment to end, he wanted her to stay with him forever. He started to moan happily again as he also started to fall asleep.

"Reborn? Reborn! Don't fall asleep on me. You still have a high fever and I'm afraid the rag won't be enough to cool you down," Luce informed through soft giggles. Reborn groaned in annoyance. _**'Why does this have to end so soon,'**_ he thought angrily. Slowly, painfully, and eventually Reborn was able to make it out of bed. He tried not to think of the dizziness that suddenly grew in him from the change in elevation. On their way to the bathroom, Reborn grabbed the wall with one hand and with the other hand held onto his head, then his stomach, then his hand flung to his mouth as he started to retch again. Luce didn't know if Reborn would be able to make it to the bathroom on time so she rushed back to his room (albeit they were less than half way there to the bathroom) and returned just in the nick-of-time to see Reborn drop his head back into the bucket and vomit again whatever was magically left in his stomach. '_**He doesn't eat much, so he can't possibly puke the rest of the day? I give him one more session, tops,'**_ Luce curiously thought to herself. After another 5 minutes of puking of what felt like his inner organs, Reborn felt like collapsing into an unconscious state. As he started to fall to his knees, Luce caught him and brought him back up to his feet.

"You feel very light. Exactly how much do you weigh hit man-san?"

"Last time I checked I weighed about 125 lbs."

"Really? Maybe it's because you don't eat a lot Reborn."

"Nh," was all Reborn could say. He was too exhausted to continue having a conversation and he just wanted to sleep. When they finally made it to the bathroom, Luce sat Reborn on the toilet and started the tub. (To get an image of the bathroom, picture your bathroom. If you feel you're is too small, picture your friend's bathroom or a family member's bathroom or any bathroom that big, spacey, has lots of ceramic tiles, and is lightly bright). Taking a good look at Reborn's face in the brightly lit bathroom, he looked like he could die any second now. His eyes were blood shot red and they kept aimlessly opening and closing (each opening getting tighter and tighter). He had highly dark lines under his eyes and his usually fairly tanned skin was now pale. the only color he seemed to have was the soft pink blush line across his face that was due to the 103* fever. She took a rag and wiped the puke that resided on his mouth.

"Are you thirsty?" Luce asked. Reborn replied with a slow nod. Grabbing a nearby cup on the sink, she ran the faucet water until it was as chilled as it can get.

"I'm sorry Reborn, but until the tub fills or until we get back to the room, you'll just have to drink the tap water." Surprisingly there were no complaints on Reborn's part. He accepted the glass gratefully and slowly gulped it down. He was so thankful that his dying thirst had been quenched that he somewhat over tilted the cup in excitement and a drop slipped past his mouth, traced his slim jaw line, went down his neck and slid to his chest, disappearing under his pajama shirt and then reappearing on his stomach where the shirt was unbuttoned. Luce giggled as she watched Reborn greedily drank the glass empty. Removing the glass from his lips he started to pant as he realized he never gave himself time to breathe while he was drinking. A little embarrassed he quickly handed the now empty glass back to her, making it obvious he wanted another glass. As she filled the glass again, she started to hand it to Reborn when she quickly snatched it away.

"Drink it slowly this time. Give yourself time to breath, I know you're thirsty but that doesn't mean you have to nearly drown yourself. Understand," Luce commanded calmly. Reborn gave a nod of his head and she gracefully handed the glass to him. This time he would take a gulp, remove the glass, and consume another gulp or two before removing the glass again to breath. Now pleased, she went to go turn off the water running in the tub. Feeling to see if it was the right temperature, she decided it was cool enough and called Reborn over. She was very shocked when she saw Reborn already shirtless and now taking off his pants.

"Don't worry, I'll keep my boxers on," sheepishly informed Reborn. As he stepped into the tub, he started to shake at the sudden temperature drop. Even though Reborn had a fever of 103, he felt like he was in the Arctic in his swimming trunks. For the first few minutes his body shook in the chilled water, after a while he got use to it and actually found it very comforting.

"I'm sorry Luce."

"For what Reborn?"

"Here you are pregnant and you should be relaxing but instead you are here, having to take care of my sorry sick ass." She gently smiled and couldn't fight the urge to give him a gentle kiss on the forehead, so she acted on instinct and gave a small peck in the middle of his hot and sweaty forehead (although she didn't mind it being that way). Reborn gently touched the spot where she had kissed his forehead in curiosity and started to blush. Luce playfully smacked the hand that was touching the area where the kiss was and jokingly commanded not to wipe it away (she even added a wagging finger to make the effect more adorable). She then noticed that Reborn was blushing and when she asked, Reborn said it was only the fever. She couldn't help but to smile even more at Reborn. Here he was, the most powerful hit man in the whole world, sick, sitting in a tub in his boxers blushing the day away. She had to admit it, it looked really adorable (and so, she did). Reborn blushed more and more at every cutesy comment Luce made towards him. When Reborn started to mumble things under his breath, Luce couldn't help herself. She let out a small giggle which made Reborn pray his treasured fedora would somehow appear so he could hide his ample amount of embarrassment. Trying to break Luce's cutesy comment streak, Reborn asked for another glass of water. She handed him another glass but said that it was his last for a while.

"The water is going to rush right through you and before you know it you're going to trailing back off to the bathroom. Of course you never tell me anything so you'll stomach will probably start to hurt from holding it in and I just don't want to see you get hurt again..." She started to trail off when tears were suddenly in her eyes. She didn't know how Reborn would react, but was very shocked when she heard him chuckle.

"I'm sorry if a glass of water is the end for me. Alright then, I guess that we'll just have to stay in here until I have to go. In the mean time, I know you're probably tired from taking care of me, but do you think you could go and get a new change of clothes for me. My old pj's are sweaty and it would be a shame to take this nice bath and have to go back into those dirty things." Sniffling and wiping her tears away, Luce gave him a friendly smile and nod and was soon on her way. Stopping at the door, she slightly turned her head and told him that she could never get tired of taking care of him, and walked out.

When Luce returned, she was surprised to see Reborn slowly bending his arms at the side of the tub trying to get situated back into the tub. Right when she was about to ask what happened, she heard the toilet hiss. A smile appeared on her face as she placed Reborn's new clothes down and went to sit back down to watch over the sickly hit man.

"You know you could've just told me you had to go, I would've walked out."

"I was about to when you started to have an episode so I decided to kill 3 birds with one stone."

"3 birds?"

"Yes ma'am. One, I was able to get fresh clothes. Two, I was able to use the bathroom. Three, I didn't have to embarrass myself by telling you." Luce giggled at Reborn's ability to think the situation through even while he's sick. She was actually quite amazed. Most people would just say they had to go or try to "sneak-a-leak" in the tub. But then again, it was Reborn. Reborn had a lot more class than that. He was a gentleman as well as a hit man. Completely lost in her thoughts, she hadn't notice Reborn slowly slipping in the bath tub. By the time she did notice, Reborn's mouth was less than a second away from hitting the water. Using her forearms, she grabbed Reborn by the armpits as she started to pull him up. Sleeping in the tub is one thing, but having to save a sick person from the tub because they had drowned BECAUSE they were sleeping in the tub was a whole other story. Finally getting him into a comfortable enough position so that he wouldn't slip again, Luce let Reborn sleep. He deserved it. Even though she was taking care of him, he still had to drag himself out of the room with his stomach probably doing flips and his head probably spinning and swirling. He was still comforting her even with a fever of 103 and he still had time to think around the book and make jokes while he was at it. Most people wouldn't do all that. They would take advantage of being treated like royalty and would probably have Luce running around doing a million things at once. But what really got to Luce was the fact that he had apologized to her because of her having to take care of a sick grown man in her current state. Again she started to tear up but then she tried to hold it in so she could be strong for Reborn. If he could be strong, most likely feeling like a pile of crap, so could she. She had nothing to be upset about. He had no reason to apologize. She was the one who voluntarily decided to take care of Reborn. No! If she truly wanted to be strong she would say what she was feeling. If he could be strong, so could she! She had nothing to be upset about. He had no reason to apologize. She was the one who voluntarily decided to take care of the man she truly loved! Just before she could end her little moment of triumph, she heard little groans and moans again. Again it was Reborn. She didn't even realize that Reborn's face started to twist into to pain again and his body gently toss and turn in the tub. She didn't even see Reborn's hand continuously and roughly rub his stomach back and forth. She didn't hear the groans of pain escaping from his mouth or the violent noises escaping from Reborn's stomach. How could she not notice her love starting to feel pain again? Because of what she kept doing. She kept letting herself be engulfed by her train of thought. Ok no more thinking! Now we act! As if a normal reaction, she hugged Reborn so that their arms and hands matched symmetrically. Their left arms and hands were right on the borderline middle of where his chest ended and his stomach began. Their right arms and hands were right on his aching stomach. The only difference was that it was her hand on his stomach instead of his. Slowly she started to stroke his stomach back and forth as she gently hummed in his ears. Reborn felt like he had died and gone to a place better than heaven. All of his pains were slowly melting away. The water had felt so good on his skin that it was making it tingle every so often. Luce's gentle humming made Reborn's ears and head go pleasantly and relaxingly numb. Reborn felt like nothing could ruin this moment. He felt that his world was right here, next to him, relaxing his pains away with such gentle and graceful movements and sounds. Even if someone was to barge in on them for some odd reason, he would just shoot them a demon infused glare and have them running for another bathroom so that this moment, that was better than heaven, could never end. This moment was so luxurious to him that he couldn't even find the words to describe it. All he knew was that if he would, in some magical way, die and go to heaven, that he would be rather insulted because nothing could be better than this. Here he was, getting better from an awful fever that had occurred some time last night. Here he was having all mental, physical, and emotional pain washed away by Luce's sweet massage and humming. Here Reborn was, in the bathroom, alone, with no one else but the love of his life, Luce. Yes, Reborn loved Luce. The moment he saw her he thought that she was kind, sweet, and gentle. As time progressed, Reborn couldn't get Luce out of his mind. All he thought of was Luce. Her kindness. Her gentleness. Her hair, her eyes, her food, her clothes, her everything. All he wanted to do was protect her and make sure no one would even dare to THINK about harming a single, beautiful hair on her glorious body. What Reborn hadn't noticed was that while in his train of thought, he became so relaxed. He was gently, quietly, and happily moaning the night away. He felt so relaxed that he couldn't even feel his body.

Seeing as he was still deep in thought, trance, and sleep, she tried her best to suppress her giggles, scared that it might break her hit man love out of his relaxed trance, and sleep. She didn't want to see him toss and turn in pain again. She didn't want to see her love in pain period. She loved everything about Reborn and everything he did. She loved his fedora and how he would hide half of his smooth, tanned face with the shadow of his fedora's brim. She loved how he never took it off unless he was alone or going to sleep (although she loved it even more when he would sometimes forget and sleep with it on, making it end up in some weird yet funny position on his head). She loved how he was always protective of her and made sure she was at her happiest. The way he would slowly eat and drink his breakfast, lunch, or dinner, as if savoring it, made her smile every time. But the one thing she loved. The one thing that she adored about Reborn. The one thing that could keep her distracted for hours... was his sideburns. Yes, his sideburns. She absolutely adored how they curled and laid up against his face. She loved that you could always tell how he was deep in thought because of the way he would cross him arms and use one hand to continuously and gently thug and pull at one of his sideburns. God how much she loved his curly cute sideburns. She always wondered how they stayed so curly. No matter how much he tugs and pulls, no matter how violently he sleeps or how crazy his hair gets, they always managed to stay curly and perfect. Oh and don't get her started on his hair. His hair. She loved how it unnaturally sticks up making him look like a mad scientist. She loved how it stayed so tamed under his fedora with little to no effort. She loved how it stuck to his face while he sweats-wait...what? Back up a moment! Stuck to his face... hair stuck to his face... hair stuck to his face because of sweat... CRAP! This whole maybe 20 minutes they were in the bathroom, she never washed or even wiped Reborn's upper body that wasn't in the water. She had to wake him up. Oh, but how could she? She looked at her secret lover and her heart melted away in disappointment and sadness at the thought of having to wake Reborn out of his near-death-looking, relaxed state. Her eyes slowly trailed up Reborn's body. She started with his feet. They stopped right at the end of the tub, making no effort to move from their position. Moving up she saw Reborn's tanned toned legs. Even if they were looked faintly muscular, she knew he had strong legs. But at this moment they looked so relaxed, his knees slightly bent so that most of his body could fit in the tub. Still trailing up she reached Reborn's stomach. His muscular stomach with a matching tan just like the rest of his body. Blankly she looked at it, just noticing how her hand was still gently moving back and forth on his now cool tummy. Believe it or not, it felt magical rubbing his tummy under the water. Leaving his stomach and arriving to his chest, she almost dropped dead at how gorgeous his chest was. It was muscular and tanned (just like everything else on his body), but something about his chest was different. Even though it was muscular, it looked surprisingly comfy. It looked like as if Reborn's chest could put anyone to sleep just by laying on it. With her hand that wasn't on his stomach, she felt the calm and smooth breaths that Reborn took in and released. He sounded so much better than earlier where it seemed as if his air supply would shut down on him any minute. Finally done observing his chest, she moved along to his head and face. This was probably the sexiest part about Reborn. If you started with his head, the first thing you noticed was his jaw line. His jaw line was slim but firm. It seemed to hold no emotion and matched Reborn's always strict expression. When you moved onto his face, you have to catch his eyes before he hides them away in his fedora's shadow. Even though his eyes were currently closed, they looked so soft and lovely. They looked so relaxed now that they might just slip off his face. Skipping his nose she went straight for his mouth. Oh, no! Oh, goodness! Why now! Reborn's mouth held a beautiful and prefect smile. It wasn't too big nor was it to small; it was just the right length. His smile was so soft and relaxed. If she didn't have the ability to compose herself, she probably would've squealed or something. But then as she thought about having to wake Reborn from this state of bliss, her heart started to slowly sink into depression. She thought about the best way she could approach this. She needed to be quick but gentle. All she had to do was wipe his upper body right? All she needed was his approval and Reborn could go right back to sleep. Not wanting to shake the young male awake, she instead moved the hand that was closest to his chest. When she got to the middle of his chest, she lightly patted it until he slowly awoke. At first he started to groan somewhat annoyed which made Luce's heart sink even further down. But when he looked around and noticed Luce, he couldn't help but smile even more than he already was. Something about her, even if she did look upset, made her look angelic, so of course Reborn couldn't help but to smile even more.

"Is there something wrong lov-I MEAN-um...Luce?" she tried her best to hide the fact that she heard it, so she quickly informed Reborn of his sweat covered upper body. By this time now it was dry, so Reborn might as well take a shower. However, whatever Reborn did resulted in his stomach doing flips which also resulted in pain.

"Alright then," he playfully informed, "let's do this." And with that he slipped out of Luce's gentle grip and dipped his chest and up in the water. He laid there for a few seconds letting the water clean away all dried up sweat that was still stuck to him. As if by instinct Luce started to scrub Reborn down. He suddenly shot up like a bullet, but surprisingly had a steady breath.

"Something wrong," Luce worryingly questioned.

"No. I just escaped out of water before I fell asleep again from your gentle touch." Luce giggled. _**'Reborn's so laid back all of a sudden. I wonder what's gotten into him,'**_ Luce cheerfully thought. Seeing as how Reborn was sweat free, Luce decided that bath time was over. When Reborn got out of the tub, Luce stepped out so that he could go get dressed. Minutes later Reborn stepped out with an orange colored matching pj set. Luce felt his forehead and forearms.

"Alright," she proudly announced, "it seems your fever has gone down a lot!" Reborn gave her a small smile and thanked her for being so helpful. Luce said it was nothing, but in reality, it meant the world to her. Reborn was always looking out for her, so every little thing that she could do for him meant the whole world to her! And why shouldn't it? Reborn was the one she loved and cherished out of all the arcobaleno. When push comes to shove, she would do anything for him. She even made the resolve to die for Reborn (yes dammit! I went there!). As they made their way back to Reborn's room, Luce prayed that Reborn wouldn't puke again. Wait a minute...puke. The bucket. She had completely forgotten the fact that there was puke already in the bucket earlier today. She had completely forgotten to ask him why there was puke. There were actually a lot of questions that needed to be answered:

How did he get sick?

When did he get sick?

Why didn't he tell anybody?

How did he plan to get over the fever by himself? Don't tell me that he was hoping someone would come up and find him before it was too late? Or maybe that was his plan? Maybe it was too late so the only thing he could do was wait and pray? Poor thing. Well whatever the case maybe, I'll just have to ask him when we settle into his room. The time they took to get to the bathroom was very much longer than the trip back to his bedroom. Thank goodness! Finally getting situated, Reborn was snuggling into his bed while Luce situated herself into the seat that she had placed from earlier today. Reborn was about to travel to sandman land but Luce quickly interrupted that trip.

"Reborn, I know you want to sleep, but there are a couple of things I need to know," quickly intruded Luce. Reborn groaned (of course) but when he turned back he looked wide awake. He laid there with a stern look upon his face, ready for any questions Luce was ready to throw at him. Seeing as she had Reborn's full attention, she decided to just let the questions flow, it didn't matter if they were a difficult question or not, she needed answers and that's all that mattered.

"Ok, let's start with this one. What's your current temperature?" With that she took out the thermometer from earlier, cleaned it off, and placed it back under Reborn's tongue. After about a minute, it finally beeped and it had read that Reborn's temperature was 99.8*. Luce was so relieved that his temperature had dropped so much. However, 99.8 were still above normal temperature so she re-wet the rag and placed it neatly on Reborn's head.

"Since we got that out of the way, why don't we continue on with this, when did you first get sick?" Reborn shifted uncomfortably. He was hoping that this question wouldn't pass until he was better. In fact, he was hoping that he could rest and hoped that ALL questions would wait until he was better.

Nervously he answered, "Sometime last night." Keeping a straight face, Luce continued on with her interview.

"When did you first discover you were sick?"

"When I got back from running that last minute errand. When I started to get ready to go back to bed, my head started to hurt. I only figured it was because I was tired so I shrugged it off. However, as the night passed, I found myself unable to sleep. I tossed and turned, and when I got up to burn off some energy I figured I still had, I only ended up running to the nearest bucket to vomit. That, of course, made me exhausted so I decided to go back to sleep. The whole fever, dizziness, and upset stomach thing was new to me when you woke me up today."

"What was the last minute errand, and what time did you go out to do it?"

"The last minute errand was me fetching food for you. I had gone out at about midnight and was out for more than 2 hours." Even though Reborn's errand was for Luce, he had said it with no hate or annoyance. He actually said it very calmed and somewhat pleased. Luce's straight face turned into a depressed face filled with teary wide eyes. So it was me. It was all because of me that Reborn got sick and was in so much pain. Luce let thoughts like these and more swim inside her head as she convinced herself more and more that it was all her fault. At first Reborn was oblivious to Luce's sudden change in attitude, but when he did he shot up faster than one of his bullets. He let the rag fall as he leapt out of bed and embraced Luce. Although the sudden quickness made him very dizzy and somewhat nauseous, he ignored all those feelings when a single tear fell from Luce's beautiful and lively eyes. He sat at the edge of his bed and gave Luce a concerned look.

"What's wrong? Why are you crying? Is it because I didn't tell you? I'm so sorry! Please don't cry! I'm begging you. It hurts me when you cry. It makes me feel as if I failed as a guardian and a friend!" Luce gave him as a surprised look when the word friend exited his lips.

"Reborn, do you really consider me a friend?"

"Luce...I...of course I do...but..."

"What is it Reborn?"

"Luce...Luce, I love you."

"Reborn!"

Now she couldn't help it. All emotions that she was hiding started to show. She wept profusely and they couldn't stop no matter what. Reborn's face grew in horror and he snatched his caretaker out of the chair and into his lap. He cuddled his face into her collar bone as he started to rock back and forth.

"No! No! No! Don't cry please! I'm so sorry! I should've never said that! I should've kept this as a friendship! I'm so sorry Luce please don't be mad!"

"Reborn, I'm not mad. How can I be mad when I love you too?" Reborn's head shot up as he stared at the pregnant arcobaleno with such a questionable look on his face. He looked at her as if she had mouths all over her face.

"Wait? W-What did you just..."

"Yes Reborn, I did. I love you Reborn. I'll say it a million times. I'll say it until heaven and hell themselves get the message. I love you with all my heart Reborn. That's why I was crying. It's my fault you got sick. I had you go out on a stupid errand and it got you sick. And now here you are apologizing when I should be the one apologizing." Reborn's curious look stayed on his face.

"What are you talking about? I got myself sick. On my way back it had started to rain and I didn't want your food to get wet so...so I took off my jacket and covered up your food with it. I knew it was going to rain as soon as I had left the house but you seemed so upset and hungry that I figured a little rain could be nothing. I really didn't account on how much rain was going to fall and I didn't think I would get THIS sick from not having my jacket. I'm sorry Luce. I just made you worry. No worst, I made you cry. I can never forgive myself for making the one I love cry. It makes me feel as if I failed you." Luce started to wipe the continuous stream of tears from her eyes as she took in every word Reborn said.

"Ok then! No more apologizing! But one more question before we go to sleep. Reborn, would you consider being more than just friends with me?" she asked it so gently and shyly and her sudden fidgeting made her sound and look like a crushing high school girl. Reborn smiled at his love's reaction and replied with a gentle sternness.

"No Luce, I wouldn't consider it..." Luce looked in horror and felt as if her dream had turned into a nightmare.

Ignoring Luce's change in emotion, he continued, "Luce... I would love, adore, and give anything to being more than just friends with you!" It wasn't a surprise to Reborn when Luce's tears had started to act up again. She cuddled into Reborn and didn't dare to let go. Reborn just let her cry on his shoulder, not minding the fact that her tears were damping his shirt, giving him yet another bath. He cuddled his face back into her neck. It smelled heavenly. It smelled like honey, chocolate, coffee, and everything else that she was using to bake in the kitchen earlier today. He also smelled her famous pomegranate perfume and lotion. He nearly flipped every time he smelled it when she walked by, so smelling in her body physically was more than a dream come true. He was so lost in her mesmerizing scent that he didn't even notice Luce playing with his sideburns. His face was shocked as he stared at his new lover. His face quickly relaxed as he saw how distracted she actually was with his sideburns. It reminded him of a little kid who had just discovered something new, or even when little kids are clued dead onto their televisions. He had to admit, it was really fucking adorable. He even remembers the day when she said that his sideburns were adorable.

"Having fun with my sideburns," Reborn playfully asked, breaking the sudden romantic silence between them. She giggled as she nodded her head yes. Reborn stared hopelessly in love as he watched his love tug, pull, and entwine her finger into his sideburn.

"Hey Luce?"

"Yes lov-I mean Reborn," she playfully replied. Reborn blushed as he remembered his little accident in the bathroom earlier. However, he brushed that aside as best as he could.

"Do you know what I find adorable and wanna play with that's yours," Reborn lustfully asked.

"What's that," Luce continued, still lost in Reborn's sideburn.

"Your lips." With that Reborn met lips to lips with Luce before she could say anything. At first she was hesitant but eventually she gave into Reborn's soft and warm lips. They felt like silk to her. They were perfect. They weren't too big nor to small. They weren't desert dry but they also weren't pool wet. OMG his lips felt like a miracle. And personally, he could say the same. Whatever he smelled on her neck he could taste on her lips (minus the pomegranate lotion and perfume). He couldn't be any more pleased. He got to tell Luce how he felt, she felt the same way, and he was able to finally fulfill secret fantasies and dreams all in one night. They broke off their heavenly kiss so that they could get some air. Right when they were about to continue, Reborn's head dropped in pain as he held one of his hands to his stomach. God-damn-it stomach! Now of all times.

"Are you alright? Do you want to stop for tonight?" Reborn shook his head no at Luce's sudden worrying.

"I'll be fine, don't wor-" He was stopped suddenly when his stomach make a violent bubbling sound that made a shot of pain strike through his body. The free hand that he was using to hold onto Luce from her back flew back to him as he wrapped both arms around his tiny stomach, causing him to curl into a fettle position low enough that his head was at Luce's belly. Luce gave him an oh-boy kind of look that was also mixed with a look of concern. Suggesting that her and Reborn go to bed and continue this when he got better, Reborn gave her a painful nod. After about a minute of pain, strain, and a relaxing back rub from Luce, Reborn was finally able to lie somewhat still on his back. By instinct, Luce had laid beside him, removed his hands away from his stomach, unbuttoned his shirt from the bottom-up so that only his chest was covered, and started her massage to calm the rest of Reborn's pain. She also remembered to put the rag back on his head. Sooner or later he fell asleep, and Luce was starting to get sleepy herself. She pulled Reborn in closer (still massaging his belly), and pulled the covers over them. She nuzzled into Reborn's neck and all of a sudden Reborn moved so that his right hand was on the hand that Luce was using to massage him, while the other one was under her in a gentle hug so that he wouldn't lose her in the night. With her face nuzzled into his neck, he gently laid his head on top of hers. They were defiantly two lovers in paradise. Nothing could separate them. He loved her and she loved him. The only thing that would separate these two was death itself. They both prayed that it wouldn't happen soon, but they already knew that, so there was no worries. The two of them slept the night together, both in each other's arms. Not a single pain was felt and not a single tear was shed. All you heard was their gentle sighs of sleep, and personally, they wouldn't have had it any other way.

* * *

**ME: THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING. PLZ REVIEW AS THIS IS MY FIRST STORY BUT IT DEFIANTLY WONT BE MY LAST! IM WORKING ON MORE STORIES AS WE SPEAK! 3**

REBORN: WHY DO I HAVE TO BE THE ONE TO GET SICK?

**ME: CAUSE IT'S CUTE WHEN THE GUY GETS SICK! ACCEPT IT!**

_LUCE: I DIDN'T MIND TAKING CARE OF YOU, HIT MAN-SAN ^_^_

REBORN: NO, IT'S NOT THAT! IT'S...UM...WELL...UMMMMMMMM...

**ME: AH! YOU GOT NOTHING! WHY? CAUSE YOU ENJOYED IT! YOU KNOW WHAT, I SHOULD'VE PUT YOU IN A YAOI WITH EITHER FON, COLONELLO, OR EVEN ADULT LAMBO!**

REBORN: o.o

**ME: THOUGHT SO...LUCE, TAKE IT AWAY AND END IT OFF WITH A DISCLAIMER!**

_LUCE: MY PLEASURE. MISS WHITEBLODDROSE DOES NOT OWN REBORN NOR ME OR ANY OTHER CHARACTERS MENTIONED. ALL CHARACTERS AND REFERENCES BELONG TO THE CREATORS OF THE ANIME/MANGA KATEKYO HITMAN REBORN. THE ONLY THING SHE OWNS IS THE STORY AND PLOT ITSELF!_

**ME: i wish i did, BUT I DONT OWN, SO REVIEW AND FAV AND LOOK OUT FOR MORE UPCOMING STORIES!**


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